Women In Animation to be honored at Annecy 2018

The Annecy International Animated Film Festival is continuing its efforts to enhance the visibility of the animation industry’s female talent, following its all-woman jury in 2015 and MIFA’s hosting of the first Women In Animation (WIA) summit last year, as well as recently commissioning artists Regina Pessoa and Michèle Lemieux to create the poster art for the festival’s 2015 and 2016 editions respectively.

For the festival’s 2018 edition WIA as a whole will be the collective recipient of the MIFA Animation Industry Award, the first time an organisation will have received the accolade since its creation in 2015. The award “aims to highlight the people who have contributed to the changes in the animation industry through their achievements, investments and reflections”, with previous recipients including Illumination’s Chris Meledandri, GKIDS President Eric Beckman, Gebeka Films creator Marc Bonny and Aardman Animations co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton.

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival/Mifa is the most important global gathering of the entire animation industry. It is a tremendous honour for Women in Animation (WIA) to be recognized by Annecy for our work in opening the doors of our industry to all people with a focus on diversity, inclusion and belonging. Mifa’s continued support of WIA and our Women in Animation World Summit at Annecy have played a key role in our growth and influence as an organization.

– Marge Dean, WIA President

After the 2015 Festival put the spotlight on women in animation, we are delighted to give this prize to Women in Animation and, through this association, to all organisations who work for the equal status of women in the animation sector. This award is once again a demonstration of Annecy’s engagement to raise awareness and put into practice a real sense of equality within organisations.

-Mickaël Marin, CITIA Executive Officer

This year’s festival will also host the second Women in Animation World Summit, presented by WIA and Les Femmes s’Animent. The summit, which takes place on Monday, June 11th at the Impérial Palace, will feature “a day-long symposium of panels and discussions focused on the theme of Inclusion.”